A quest for treasures among wild barleys: How biodiversity in barley is exploited for breeding elite varieties

Cultivated barley ranks number four among the world cereals. Barley emerged about 10000 years ago from wild barley species. At the institute, the genetic diversity among cultivated and wild barley varieties is studied with novel genome research tools. The new results are exploited, on one hand, to support modern plant breeding. On the other hand, the data assist in unravelling the molecular regulation of growth and development in crop plants.